Snowflakes
READING, WRITING, MATH, & ART CONNECTIONS
Snowflake Bentley - a great picture book to start the conversation about snowflakes with all ages
"Of all the forms of water the tiny six-pointed crystals of ice called snow are incomparably the most beautiful and varied." -- Wilson Bentley (1865-1931)
From the time he was a small boy in Vermont, Wilson Bentley saw snowflakes as small miracles. And he determined that one day his camera would capture for others the wonder of the tiny crystal. Bentley's enthusiasm for photographing snowflakes was often misunderstood in his time, but his patience and determination revealed two important truths: no two snowflakes are alike; and each one is startlingly beautiful. His story is gracefully told and brought to life in lovely woodcuts, giving children insight into a soul who had not only a scientist's vision and perseverance but a clear passion for the wonders of nature. Snowflake Bentley won the 1999 Caldecott Medal.
Click HERE to see if it's in your school's library
Click HERE to see if it's available from the Multnomah County Library.
Video
Lesson plans
Create your own "snowflake" using borax and pipe cleaners
Ideas for integrating sci & math in teaching about snowflakes from Beyond Polar Bears and Penguins
Using Snowflake Bentley as a framing text for multi-genre writing.
Winter Math Activities from Mathwire.com
A Matter of Pattern lesson plan from ScienceNetLinks
Brainpop activity page for snowflakes
Instructions for cutting paper snowflakes (includes some templates)
Other books about snow/snowflakes/ice/winter, etc.
Snowflakes fall by MacLachlan, Patricia
No two alike by Baker, Keith
Bedtime bunnies by Watson, Wendy
The smallest snowflake by Watts, Bernadette
Duck skates by Berry, Lynne
Now it is winter by Spinelli, Eileen
The snow ghosts by Landry, Leo
Snow by Shulevitz, Uri
White snow, bright snow by Tresselt, Alvin R
It's snowing! by Appleby, Alex
Big snow by Bean, Jonathan
Let's look at winter by Schuette, Sarah L.
Life under ice by Cerullo, Mary M
It's winter! by Glaser, Linda
Winter : an alphabet acrostic by Schnur, Steven
Black whiteness : Admiral Byrd alone in the Antarctic by Burleigh, Robert
Welcome to the ice house by Yolen, Jane
When it starts to snow by Gershator, Phillis
The long winter by Wilder, Laura Ingalls
Twelve kinds of ice by Obed, Ellen Bryan
North : the amazing story of Arctic migration by Dowson, Nick
The snowshoeing adventure of Milton Daub, blizzard trekker by Berne, Emma Carlson
Beluga whales : animals of the snow and ice by Landau, Elaine
Emperor penguins : animals of the snow and ice by Landau, Elaine
Survival at 40 below by Miller, Debbie S
The snow baby : The Arctic childhood of Admiral Robert E. Peary's daring daughter by Kirkpatrick, Katherine
Snowed in with Grandmother Silk by Fenner, Carol
Polar bear math : learning about fractions from Klondike and Snow by Nagda, Ann Whitehead
This flyer was created by Erin Fitzpatrick-Bjorn, K-8 District Media Coordinator in the Gresham-Barlow School District.
Email: fitzpatrick@gresham.k12.or.us
Website: tinyurl.com/GBSDlibraries
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